Shabbat Shalom Weekly
Torah Portion: Ha’azinu
Lively Parshat Ha’azinu
by Avi Geller
The fishermen’s nets were everywhere. The poor trout, bass, and whitefish were frantically swimming in all directions in an effort to avoid the nets. The sight amused the crafty fox on the shore. He also longed for a nice fish meal. “Oh brother fish,” cried the fox, “why are you swimming in all directions?”
The fish replied in unison, “Can’t you see all the fishermen’s nets we must avoid? This river has become an ‘Olympic obstacle course’ – without a gold medal at the end!”
“Oh brother fish,” exclaimed the fox, “why don’t you join me on the dry land? We can live together as our ancestors once did, and I will protect you from all danger!”
The fish replied in unison, “Oh crafty fox! You are known to be clever, but what a fool you are! If we are in danger while in our life source – the water – how much more so would we be in danger if we forsake our life source.” And so the fox was deprived of his fish ‘n chips lunch!
This parable was told by the great talmudic sage Rabbi Akiva, to explain his stubborn refusal to stop teaching Torah in public, despite the Roman decree making Torah study illegal and punishable by death. “If we are in danger when studying Torah, our life source,” said Rabbi Akiva, “how much more so if we stop studying!”
In the end, Rabbi Akiva was arrested and sentenced to death by torture. His friend Papos was also arrested for “tax evasion” and sentenced to that famous spectator sport, the coliseum. As they were taken together, Papos cried out, “Happy are you, Akiva, arrested for Torah study. Woe to Pappos who will be executed for some minor misdemeanor.”
In Parshat Ha’azinu, the Torah is compared to rain. When the fish sense that it is raining, they leap up to taste the fresh water. Similarly, a Jew who loves Torah will be elated to hear new Torah insights.
In beautiful poetic style, the Parsha reviews the past, present, and future relationship of the Jewish people with God. Moses has been the “broker” of this “everlasting covenant” between God and his people. As the book of Deuteronomy approaches its conclusion, we need “witnesses” to help perpetuate the relationship. So Moses calls upon heaven and earth — which exist eternally — to testify.
While our Parsha says, “Listen, oh Heaven, and hear oh Earth,” the prophet Isaiah (1:2) says the converse: “Hear heaven and listen earth.” The Sages explain that Isaiah, as holy a prophet as he was, was still a resident of planet earth, and therefore requested that the earth listen (from nearby) and that heaven hear (from a distance). Moses, on the other hand, was a regular resident of heaven (on three occasions, for 40 days each), so he could demand that the heaven listen and the earth hear from a distance!
“May my teaching descend as the rainfall, like the downpour on the pasture.” (Deut. 32:2)
Water is the source of all life, and nothing can grow without rain.
Torah is the spiritual rain of the world, and the plant that it grows is man himself. Man is compared to a tree (as opposed to an inanimate object). In fact, the early development of the fetus is similar to that of a plant as they both share the power to grow. The difference, of course, is that man has a soul and grows both physically and spiritually!
If a person interrupts Torah study for extended periods, it is compared to planting a seed and constantly uprooting it. It will never grow!
“The Rock whose act is perfect; all His paths are justice.” (Deut. 32:4)
No human judge can claim to carry out perfect justice. Even to convict a cold-blooded murderer with many witnesses, results in unnecessary suffering: e.g. Why should his wife, mother, and children have to suffer??
When God renders justice, we believe, although we don’t always understand how, that God gives fair judgment to all the parties involved.
“Remember the days of yore, understand the past generations. Ask your father and grandfather and they will tell you.” (Deut. 32:7)
It is very important to remember the past. Jewish history is the hand of God. If you get the opportunity to ask an elderly Jew about his youth, it can be a very special experience. This maintains our link to the past and to our heritage.
The reason a person’s hair turns gray is to let others know who to ask advice from!
World history, including Noah’s Flood and the tower of Babel, led up to the emergence of the Jewish people on the scene. The Jews are to function as a “light unto the nations,” teaching mankind how to live and the meaning of existence.
God finally finds His nation in the desert. They agree to follow Moses into a desolate wilderness with no provisions, they accept the Torah, and God surrounds them with Clouds of Glory and loves them like the “apple of His eye!”
God hovers over the Jewish people like an eagle. First she awakens her chicks gently. Then the eagle carries its young on its wings to protect them from predators. However, the chicks have to make the first effort to climb upon their mother’s wings. So too, God wakes us up and we have to take the first step forward. (heard from Rabbi Osher Weiss)
God promises to grant the Jewish people prosperity to demonstrate to the world that it is possible to enjoy this world without becoming decadent.
God predicts they will become obese and rebel, instead of serving Him. They designed their own idols that even the idolaters themselves had not known. Those who worshiped them did not truly believe in them, but only worshiped them as justification for immoral lifestyles.
How could a person ever forget God who gave you everything?
To illustrate, here’s a parable:
Tom: “I can’t take it. All day long my creditors bug me for their money. What should I do?”
Jack: “Make believe you are insane, and yell and scream at them until they leave you alone.”
Tom (one week later): “Your trick worked beautifully! They all steer clear of me now.”
Jack: “That’s great. By the way, Tom, what about the $100 you owe me?”
Tom begins to yell and scream.
Jack: “Come on, Tom! I was the one who gave you that idea. You can’t use it on me!”
God gives us the power to forget, so that we don’t remain depressed and embarrassed for the rest of our lives. How can we then go and forget God?!
“My arrows will I finish upon them.” (Deut. 32:23)
All the arrows in the quiver will end, and the Jews will still be standing! In the end, God will take revenge upon evil, and all the nations will praise the Jews for remaining loyal to their Torah in spite of all the horrors inflicted upon them.
(1) The redemption will arrive when God desires, a time unknown by any human.
(2) God will take revenge on the wicked nations.
(3) The redemption will come after the Jewish people have atoned for their misdeeds.
(4) The redemption will be for God’s sake alone. That means that even if the world doesn’t deserve to be redeemed, God will still redeem them for His sake. Because without the Jewish example of decency and morality in the world, who needs a world?
(5) Following the “ingathering of the exiles” will be the “resurrection of the dead.”
Staying Afloat
by Rabbi Shaul Rosenblatt
This week’s portion says that the Jewish people “became fat and kicked out” — i.e. rebelled against God.
It is symptomatic of human nature that when things go well for us, we lose perspective on God. There may be no atheists in a fox hole, but there are plenty on luxury yachts. Or to employ a different metaphor, bear markets are almost invariably better for us spiritually than bull markets. Material success and spirituality are a very difficult combination. And that’s a shame, because there is no technical reason why the two can’t go together.
Even for the greatest of people, we find that success has so often been their downfall. Look at someone like my namesake, King Shaul. He was the most humble and pious of all men — until he became king. Or Korach, who the Oral Tradition explains had potential to be greater than Moses; he was undone by his wealth. Even King Solomon, the wisest of all men, struggled to maintain perspective on his success.
And look at the Jewish people throughout history. The times we have flourished spiritually have been times of persecution — be it the great Rabbis of the Roman era, the incredible creativity that came from Medieval Jewry in Western Europe, or during the pogroms and expulsions of Eastern Europe. On the other hand, times of wealth and success for the Jewish people have been times during which we have assimilated — be it the Golden Age in Spain, Western Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, or even our own generation.
Why does success lead us to “kick out”? Because the more we achieve, the less we feel the need for God in our lives. If I have a big house to keep me warm, food in the fridge to feed my family, money in the bank for my security, and good doctors and hospitals to keep me healthy, so where is the need for God? It’s just so easy to send Him trudging off to the join the ranks of the unemployed — ready to be swiftly recalled when the banking system fails or a child is sick and the doctors say there’s nothing they can do.
God wants to be a part of our lives, so there are really only two ways this can go. Either we strive to remember the source of our success when it happens — and strive really hard, because it’s so unnatural for us to see God as its source. Or, if we only call God back when there is a crisis, then maybe there will need to be more crises. And that’s exactly what the Torah says next: “I shall gather evil against them, I shall use up all my arrows on them, etc…”
So what’s the solution? If we want our success to be lasting, we need only to be grateful. Gratitude protects what we have. The more we enjoy, the more we appreciate, the more we are thankful, the more likely we are to hold onto the blessings we’ve been granted.
In other words, if you invite God onto your luxury yacht, it’s far more likely to stay afloat.
Ups and Downs
by Nesanel Yoel Safran
From this week’s Torah Portion
All relationships have their ups and downs. There are times when friends can feel very close to each other and get along great, and other times when there are fights and conflicts. When these down times come, we have to make a choice: do we stay loyal and work things out, or just let the friendship fade away?
In this week’s Torah portion, we learn about the history of ‘ups and downs’ in the relationship between God and the Jewish people. One thing we see is that no matter what, God always stayed loyal, and never gave up on us, even when we didn’t act as we should. This can serve as a model for our relationships with our friends or relatives. If we don’t give up when things get tough, but remain loyal and work it through, we’ll see that we come out of it with even a stronger bond than before.
In our story, a boy faces the loyalty choice.
Steve ‘Blu’ Bluestone lived in the middle of his street. He wasn’t homeless or anything, in fact he and his family had a very nice house. It just happened to be exactly the 20th house out of the 40 houses on Oakwood Lane. Living on that spot wasn’t a big deal, except for the fact that all the kids on the street, as long as anyone could remember, would always split up into teams for the neighborhood pick-up basketball games according to which end of the street they lived on. Since Steve, who was one of the best players in the neighborhood, lived in the middle, he could pick whichever side he wanted.
Ever since the day he first moved to the neighborhood, Steve chose to play for the ‘Upstreeters,’ the kids living on the first half of the street. They soon became good friends, and the guys were very happy to have such a star on their team, even though the other team, the ‘Downstreeters,’ were more than a bit jealous.
One day, Steve and Phil, the captain of the Upstreeters, got into a big fight in the middle of a game about who was going to get to shoot the ball, and Steve got really angry. He said he quit and stormed off in a rage. Everyone figured the fight would blow over and Steve would get over it. But the next two days when Steve didn’t show up to play, it looked like he and the team were through.
The next afternoon Steve was at home, shooting some hoops in his driveway. “Hey, good shot!” called out a voice, startling the boy. He turned around, and was surprised to see Zack, the captain of the ‘Downstreeters,’ the other team, standing there wearing a wide grin. Before Steve could ask any questions, the kid made the reason for his visit very clear.
“I hear you quit the ‘competition,’ and I’m here to invite you to join our team as the starting center, and you can shoot whenever you want.”
Steve didn’t know what to say. True, he was really down on Phil and his teammates, and had been staying home, but he hadn’t actually thought about joining the other team.
“Just say the word and the position is yours,” Zack said. “Better yet, just show up on our side of the court tomorrow at game time, and that will say it all. Their loss will be our gain!” Zack waved good-bye as he turned to leave, laughing at his sudden good fortune.
At first Steve was shocked about the possibility of playing for the other team. But as he thought more about it, the idea didn’t sound half bad. So what if he switched teams? After all, he did live on the middle of the road!
The following afternoon, Steve strapped on his high-top sneakers and headed out to the playground. He felt excited about starting his first day as a ‘Downstreeter.’ When he got close to the basketball courts and saw his team – or make that his ex-team – the ‘Upstreeters’ lining up to play, Steve got a lump in his throat. They were all guys he knew so well, good friends, especially Phil. It would really hurt them once they would see that he jumped teams. Could he just walk out on them without trying to work things out? But it was their fault – they shouldn’t have treated him that way.
As he got closer, Zack, the other captain, was first to notice him and gave him a sly wink. He caught the attention of Steve’s old team and called out triumphantly, “Hey guys! Look who’s coming. You guys are in for a big surprise!”
But the big surprise was on Zack, as Steve walked right past him, and back to his old teammates who welcomed him with backslaps and high-fives.
Phil shook Steve’s hand and the two friends apologized to each other, promising to try to compromise from now on. Zack stood on his side of the court with his mouth hanging open. Steve turned to him and said, “Sorry man, no deal. I thought about it and these guys are my team, through thick and thin. I can’t just walk out on them. I’m loyal, and I’m back – to stay.”
Discussion Questions
Ages 3-5
Q. How did Steve feel at first about changing teams?
A. He thought it was okay since he had gotten into a fight with his old teammates.
Q. How did he feel in the end?
A. He felt like he wanted to stay loyal to his friends, by staying on their team.
Ages 6-9
Q. What does it mean to be loyal?
A. Loyalty means that we take our friendships, and other thing we are committed to, seriously. That even if something happens to make the relationship difficult, or we get what seems like a better offer, we don’t just walk away, but are willing to stick with what we have and try to make things better.
Q. Is there ever a time when it’s okay to end a friendship?
A. It can be that two people just can’t manage to get along, or one person is really being harmful to the other. Then the right thing to do would be to let the friendship cool. But other than this, we shouldn’t take our friendships lightly, and we should try to remain loyal if we can.
Q. What would you have done if you were Steve?
Ages 10 and Up
Q. What does it mean that God is loyal to us?
A. God loves each of us more than we can possibly imagine. His love to us is unconditional. Whatever we do, He stays loyal to us and continues to guide us in the way that will bring us to our greatest good. Even if we may forget about Him, He never forgets about us.
Q. How can we be loyal to Him?
A. Part of it is to build our trust in Him. Although everything God does is good, sometimes that good can be hard for us to understand. At those times, we can show our loyalty by not pulling away, but accept and trust that one day we will see the good.
Quote of the Week
“”The highest wisdom is kindness” — Berakot, 17a (Babylonian Talmud
Joke of the Week
Sadie was making some pancakes as a treat for her two young sons, Simon and Nicky. But the boys began to argue as to who should get the first pancake she made.
“Shame on you boys,” said Sadie. “If the wise King Solomon were here today, he would say, ‘let my brother have the first pancake’.”
Nicky looked at Simon and said, “OK, Simon, you be King Solomon today.”
Shabbat Shalom!
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